Entrepreneurship

The pathway to bringing laboratory discoveries to market is poorly understood and generally new to many academics. This book serves as an easy-to-read roadmap for translating technology to a product launch - guiding university faculty and graduate students on launching a start-up company. *    Addresses a growing trend of academic faculty commercializing their discoveries, especially those supported by the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health *    Offers faculty a pathway and easy-to-follow steps towards determining whether their discovery / idea / technology is viable from a business perspective, as well as how to execute the necessary steps to create and launch a start-up company *    Has a light-hearted and accessible style of a step-by-step guide to help graduate students, post-docs, and faculty learn how to go about spinning out their research from the lab *    Includes interviews by faculty in the disciplines of materials science, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, information technology, energy, and mechanical devices - offering tips and discussing potential pitfalls to be avoided

This is the book that market strategists have been waiting for to position themselves in global markets and take advantage of the opportunities that demographic bonuses and deficits offer to them and their products. It is also a book for teachers and students of consumer behaviour to grasp the importance of the life cycle as a framework that shapes the demand for goods and services determined by changes in social, economic and physical functioning. It gives insights into gendered consumer behaviour and cohort effects. It presents a range of views on consumer behaviour and how demographic perspectives enhance these perspectives. The book offers conceptual and analytical tools that can be used in the assessment of population characteristics as determinants of market size, composition and potential for a variety of products. It offers organising frameworks as well as empirical evidence of consumer behaviour in clusters of markets, with different rates of population growth and age distribution that affect consumers' priorities and demand for basic and progressive commodities. The book shows commonalities as well as differences in consumer behaviour arising from different cultures and social customs. It uses analytical tools that are explained and accessible to readers with a range of competences. It is a book that can give a better understanding of consumer behaviour and market opportunities to the practitioner. It can also be used for the instruction of students in demography, consumer behaviour and marketing. 

From Eli Whitney to Henry Ford to Ray Kroc to Steve Jobs, market disruptors have reaped the benefits, including fame and fortune. But do you have to be that rare genius whose unique skills can literally change the world? No. Disrupting a market is a discipline that can be learned. Disruption by Design--a handbook for entrepreneurs, CEOs, product developers, innovators, and others who want to build products or create services that systematically disrupt markets--is the first book that shows you how. There is a huge difference between being an "innovator" and being a "disruptive innovator." Disruptors change the basis for competition in markets, and they end up controlling market share--typically 40 to 80% of the total revenue and half or more of the total profits in the categories they create. But while many market opportunities have disruptive potential, only a small fraction of those ever succeed in disrupting markets. And, too often, those that do disrupt do so by accident. It doesn't have to be that way. Disruption by Design conveys lessons learned from successful disruptors, and from the many companies that should have disrupted but failed. Beginning with a quick review of the theory and key elements of the patterns of disruptive innovations and how to identify ideas with disruptive potential, Disruption by Design guides you through the design, build, and go-to-market phases that successful disruptors follow. Using many examples of disruptive companies and products, this book takes the popular theory of disruptive innovation and drives it down to the level of practical application. It answers the question, "How do I create a disruptive company, product, and culture?" Disruption by Design:

Provides information on products and the relationships between products and their industries. Explores various aspects of a product, the manufacturers, suppliers, immediate and adjacent industries and markets. Emphasizes manufacturers of numerous durable goods such as tires, automobiles, appliances, business equipment, home furnishing and sporting goods.

Explore how User Research has been influenced over the years by a range of disciplines, such as HCI, usability, anthropology, cognitive psychology, ergonomics etc. This book aims to contribute to the User Research community and covers topics that will help UX professionals, students and stakeholders to gain a better understanding of what User Research is. Throughout the book you will acquire a practical skill set, ranging from how to get the research going, to building a case in order to receive the budget and resources needed. It will provide you with a clear account of how to organise your research, how to plan it, and how to manage stakeholders' expectations throughout the project. You'll see how to fit User Research into your organization and incorporate it through the different product development phases (Discovery, Alpha, Beta until Live), as well as how to grow a User Research team. Practical User Research reviews the methodologies used for User Research, looks at how to recruit participants along with how to collect and analyse data, finally focusing on how to interpret and present your findings. Cross-cultural research, accessibility and assisted digital research will also be discussed throughout this book. The final chapter gives you 10 project briefs, with which you will be able to apply your new skill set and put into practice what you have learnt. What You'll Learn Integrate user research into your business Apply user research to your product development cycle Review the appropriate processes necessary to carry out user research Take a pragmatic approach to user research, method by method Who This Book Is For Anyone that wants to understand more about user research. 

Acquiring the first customers is a make-or-break challenge for new ventures. In how far does the trust of a potential future customer in a new venture influence his decision to purchase? How can an entrepreneur convey trustworthiness in order to influence the decision? In his dissertation, Gunnar Wiedenfels responds to these questions with an empirical study testing a theory-based model of trust, its drivers, and its effect on purchase intentions.